Irish stew

fillefatale

I'm trying to find a good recipe for a straightforward Irish stew... I haven't eaten since I was a wee one, and that was the meat version. I have some friends coming over tomorrow night and I want to serve up something wholesome and tasty... a lot of the recipes i've found have a lot of irrelevant ingredients (imo).

I've bought some veggie sausages to substitute for the meat (haven't seen quorn 'beef' pieces in years!)... any suggestions for stock/flavourings would be appreciated!

DonnieScribbles

If I was making stew, I'd just cook up whatever veg I'd chosen in some stock. Or is that almost too straightforward? I don't cook stews that often!

I'd divide the amount of potato into two, however, and I'd put the first batch in to cook about 10 minutes before the rest of the potato and veg, so that the first batch dissolves a bit and makes the stew kind of thick.

Thyme and Tarragon would be good herbs to use, and a few chilli flakes or paprika and a bit of cumin for a kick!

henryporter

What about some tasty couscous dumplings - make a batter with a 1/3 cup of hot milk, two eggs separated, 2/3 cup flour, herbs (tarragon would be good) and a cup of cooked couscous - drop spoonfuls of batter into stew and cook for a further 10 minutes

Serendipity99

Here's a recipe for vegan irish stew (for St. Paddy's Day): http://autonomieproject.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/vegan-recipe-of-the-week-irish-stew-and-soda-bread/

fillefatale

henryporter wrote: »

What about some tasty couscous dumplings - make a batter with a 1/3 cup of hot milk, two eggs separated, 2/3 cup flour, herbs (tarragon would be good) and a cup of cooked couscous - drop spoonfuls of batter into stew and cook for a further 10 minutes

Making a note of this for again!

I looked at some recipes and some were very fussy so I just went with my gut and it turned out well

henryporter

Forgot to mention that you beat the egg yolks into the batter and then separately whisk the egg whites to fold into the batter to lighten it.

TheVoodoo

The beef pieces are rebranded as ' Steak pieces ' now. Picked up a few bags in Tesco Jervis recently. They had disappeared for a bit, but i'v seen them in a good few places recently.

fillefatale

TheVoodoo wrote: »

The beef pieces are rebranded as ' Steak pieces ' now. Picked up a few bags in Tesco Jervis recently. They had disappeared for a bit, but i'v seen them in a good few places recently.

Glad to hear it! Thank you!

Tar.Aldarion

They also seem to taste a bit better? although very similar to both the old ones and the normal pieces

darconio

Have you considered using soya chunks?
Holland and Barrett sell them and they work quite well when making stews